Audiometer.



.T. M. MGGALLIE.

AUDIOMETER.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 3, 1912.

Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEBT 1.

Ima/Mo came;

J. M. MGCALLIR AUDIOMETER.

APPLIGATION FILED MAY 3, 1912.

. Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

- HHIHIIHIIIIIIIIMINIH;

J. M. MGCALLIE.

AUDIOMETER.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 3, 1912.

Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

3 SHEBTS-SHEET 3.

a& mn w m m M W e m JOSEPH M. MCCALLIE, OF TRENTON, NEW JERSEY.

AUDIOMETER.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

Application filed May 3, 1912. Serial No. 694,!392.

To all 'whom 'it may concern Be it known that I, JosErH M. MCCALLIE ofTrenton, in the county of Mercer and State of New Jersey, have .inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Audiometers, whereof thefollowing is a specification, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawngs.

The invention relates more particularly to improvements in audiometerssuch as shown and described in my prior Letters Patent -No. 862,50l,granted August Gth, 1907, which is especially adapted to test theacuteness of the human hearing, and to enable comparisons with resultsin individual cases with a predetermined standard.

An object of the invention is to provide an audioneter of the abovecharacter with a sound-emitting device which consists of 'a sonorousbody which may be vibrated by a striker, in which the blow of thestriker is uniforn.

`A further object of the invention is to provide means whereby the blowsof the striker may be varied individually; or a series of varying blowsmay be produced,

` or a series of uniform' blows may be maintained, of any degree ofintensity within the limits of adjustnent.

These and other objects will in part be obvious, and will in part behere'inafter more fully described.

In the drawings which show by way of illustration oneembodiment of the'invention, Figure I, is a perspective View of an audiometer embodyin myimprovements. Fig. II is a top plan View of the same. Fig. III, is abottom plan view of the cover and the parts carried* thereby. Fig. IV,is a sectional View on the lines IV. IV, of Fig.

II. Fig. V, is a sectional View on the line,

V, V, of Figs. II, and IV.

Referring in detail to the drawin s,'the audiometer as hereinillustrated conssts of a main casing 1, which is formed with a base 2,and a cover 3, which may be Secured by suitable screws 4, to the main orbodv portion of the casing. Said' casing is preferably mounted .on asound-deadening felt mat 5.

The cover is formed with an extension (i.

' which is located centrally thereof,.and said drical valve 8. Thisvalve, as herein shown,

is forned integral with a stem 9, to which s attached a hand wheel oractuating disk 10. The valve is held in place by a washer 11, which 'isattached to the end of the valve by a screw 12. A spring 13, ay beinterposed between the Washer 11, and the outer face of the extension 6,to maintain the valve in any desired adjisted position. A passage 14,connects the cylindrical valve chamber 7, with the interior of the maincasing 1. A plate 15, is Secured by screws 10, to the under face of thecover, and said plate 15, is provided with a triangular port or passage17, (see Fig. III), which registers with the passage 14, leading to thecy lindrical valve chamber. A slide 18, is mounted in a suitableguideway formed in the un der face of the cover, and is held in place bythe plate 16. The slide is formed on its upper face with a rack 19',which is engaged by a pinion 20. Said pinion 20, is carried by a' shortshaft 21, which is jouraled in a sleeve carried by the cover, and anactuating disk 22, is Secured to the outer end of the shaft 21, by ascrew Said actuating disk is forned with -a sei-rated portion 24,whereby said actuating disk may be readily turned. Said disk is alsoprovided with a smooth surface 25 which is provided with a scale 26, seeFig. I. A

-pointer 27, Secured by suitable screws to the cover, is dsposed adjacnt the scale 26.'

and serves as a means for determining the position of the actuatng disk.By manipulating the said disk, the shaft 21, will be turned, and thisshaft will cause the slide 18, to more or less cover the port 17.` Inother words by the nanipulation of the slide 18. the port 17, may beprogressively covered or uncovered.

The extension 6, is provided with passages or ports 28, and 29, whichlead from the cylindrical chanber 7, controlled by the cylindrical valve8. These passages 28, and

29, connect with nipples 30, and '31, to which may be renovably attachedthe rubber tubing of 'the usual binaural device. These parts are in themain similar to those shown and described in connection with my priorpatent, and further description thereof, or themanner of using the same,is not thought necessary. A

The sound-emitting device consists of a sonorous piece of metal 32,which as herein shown is n the form of a bell. The bell is which nay beof rubber or the like.

through the insulating material, and a bracket 38, is threaded on tosaid'screw'and clanps the bell against the insulating material.`

The bracket 38, is provided with an overhanging extension 39, to whichis clamped 'an adjustable arm 40. The striker. 41, as

herein shown, is L-shaped, and is so disposed relative to' the bell thatthe free end 42, may strike the bell adjacent its outer rim. The strikeris pivotally supported between suitable ears 43, carried by the arm 40,the pivotal support being indicated at 44. The Vertical-arm of thestrikeris provided, on What may be termed its front face, with a lug 61,on which a finger 45, is mounted upon a. transverse hinge (32, so as' tobe capable of turnng upwardly, but stopped by contact with the end ofthe lug 61, from turning downwardly, below the horizontal, which is itsnormal position, as indicated in Fg. IV. A stop or guard 63, mountedbeneath the ears 43, limits the up-' ward movement of the finger 45.striker nay also be provided with an overhanging. and rearwardlyprojecting arm 64, which may be bent int any desired relation to theother parts, to vary the momentum'of the striker, or determine itsnormal position of rest.

Located so as to engage the finger 45, is a star-shaped pinion 46, whichconsists of a central head 47, and outwardly projecting spacedarms 48..When this pinion is rotated, the arms one after another will strike thefinger 45, carried by the striker, and will swing'the end of the strikeaaway from the bell. As soon asvthe arm of the pinion passes, or slips offrom the finge: carried by the 'striker, the weight of said striker willcause the same to strike the bell land -swing'back to normal position.

'The -operating pinion 46, is rigidly secured on the inner end of ashort shaft 40, which extends through the casng and is journaled in a'suitable bearing 50, carried by the casing.- The outer end of the shaftv is provided with an actuating disk 51,

whereby said shaft'may be turned. Said disk 51, is formed with aserrated portion, and also with a s'mooth portion, on which may beplaced -a scale 52. A p'ointer 53, carried by the cas'ing,' coperateswith the 'scale to indicate the position of the arms of the star-shaped.pinion carried thereby;

The'

- The carriage 'for the bell and its striker is attached to a shaft 54,in such a manner that the shaft may be freely turned, but-at the sametime the longitudinal movement Said shaft is formed `with a thread 55,'

which coperates with a thread formed in a sleeve 56, carried by thecasing. said shaft on its outer end is provided with an actuating disk57, which is formed with a serrated portion 58, and a smooth portion 59,carrying a scale. A suitable pointer 60, is carried by the casing, andcoperates with the scale, in order to indicate by' any de sired scale,the position of the sti'iker relative to its actuating'device.

In the operation of my device, the sound vibrations are created withinthe chamber 'of 'the inclosed casing 1, by the rotation of the actuatingdisk 51, which causes the starshaped pinion 46, carried thereby to Swingthe striker away from the bell and release the former, so that it mayswing by' g-avity into contact With the bell. It will be readilyunderstood that when the finger 45, is in a predetermined positionrelative to the Contacting arm 48, of the actuating pinion, the saidstriker will be swu'g a uniform distance' away from the bell, and thatthe force of, the strikr against the bell for eachsti-oke Will beuniform, and, therefore, the' sound vibrations will be of uniformintensit hen it is desiredto change the intensity of the vibrations, theactuating device 57, may be turned so as to move the bell and striker,and consequentlythe finger 45, toward or from the actuating star-shapedpinion 46. This .adjustment of the fingeiwith relation to the Contactingarms 48, of said pinion, varies the distance that tiu striker is swungaway from the bell, before ,being released by said arm, and the force ofthe blow against the 'bell will thereby be varied, and consequently theintensity of the sound will be varied. The finger may be progressivelyadjusted, to produce a series of varying blows, or maintained in anygiven osition to' produce' a series of blows of uni orm intensity. v

- The purpose of hinging the finger 45, is to obviate inju-y through theturning of the star pinion 46,.in the Wrong direction, as in 'such casethe hinge will permit the finger to turn upward during the passage *ofthe' arms 48. The stop* 63, however,

limits this upward movement of the finger 45, and prevents it from beingthi-own backward into a position from which it could not rea'dily dropback again into its normal place.

It will be obvious, that I have provided a sound-emitting device,whereby the intensity of the Vibrations 'ofethe sonorous i justingmeans, to denote the extent ofsaid metal may be maintained uniform forany given series, and wherein said device may be so adjusted as to varythe intensity.

The tubular connections are` made with the binaural device in the usualmanner, and the sound from the chamber in the 'main casing may bedirected either to the right or left ear. or both, by the manipulatingof the actuating disk or hand wheel 10, so as to vary the position ofthe cylindrical valve 8. If the valv' is turned so asto close thepassage 28, then the sound will pass entirely through the passage 29,while, on the other hand, when the passage' 29. is

closed, the sound will be delivered through. the passage 28. Again. ifthe valve is positioned as shown in Fig. V, both the passages 28, and29. are in communication` with the main chamber of the casing. When itis desired to vary the size of the passage leading from the main chamberto the cylindrical valve chamber, the actuating disk 99, may be turnedso as to progressively shut ofl` or close the port 17, connecting thesetwo passages.

lt is obvious that minor changes in -the details of the Construction andthe arrangement ofparts may be made, without departing from the spiritof the invention, as set forth in the appended claims.

In the particular embodiment shown, the

hell and its striker are mounted together upon a common support, so thatthe adjusting movement of the striker is attended by'- aetual movementof the bell. While this organization is convenient, I of course do notlimit my broader clai thei-eto, as obviously it may be varied wit ioutaffecting the under-lying principle of operation.

Having ths described my invention, I claim:

1. In an audiometer, the combination With a casing providing asubstantially closed sound chamber, of a sonorous body mounted therein:means, extending through the wall of said chamber and adapted to actiatesaid striker from without, to intermittentlystrike said sonorous bodyand produce sound vih-ations within said chamber; means to ada just theoperative blow of said striking means; and means, communicatng with thesound chamber and constituting a passage i'm' the discharge of saidsound vibrations -therefron I 2. In an audiometer, the combnatomwth acasing providing a sound chamber of a sonorous bodymounted therein;means extending through the wall of said chamber and adapted to beactuated from without, to intermittently strike said sonorous bodyehanber: mea ns-to adjust the operative blow of said strkng means;` ascale on sad adadjustment; and means constituting a paswall of thechamber and adaptd' to be actui ated from without to intermittentlystrike said sonorous body and produce sound vibrations withinsaidchamber, said means including a device for producing sound vibrations ofsubstantially a determined intensity.

4. In an audiometer, the combination, with a .casing providing asubstantially closed sound chamber; of a sonorous body mounted thei-ein;a striker therefor; and means extending through the wall of the chambe",and adapted to be actuated from without, for intermittently swingingsaid striker to a determined extent. I r

5. In an audiometer, the combination, with a casing providing asubstantially closed sound chamber: of a sonorous body mounted therein,a striker therefor, means extending through the wall of the ehamber, andadapted to be aetuated from without, for inter-mittently swinging saidstriker to a determned extent; and means whereby the position of thestriker relative to the actuating de'viee may be varied for varying theintensityof the sound vibrations.

6. In an audiometer, the combination, with a casing providing asubstantially closed sound chamber; of a sonorous body mounted therein;a striker for vibrating said sonorous body; an actuating device for saidstriker; and means for adjusting` said sonorous body and strikerrelatively to the actuating devioe, whereby the stroke of the strikermay be varied.

7 In an audiometer, the combination, with a easing providing asubstantially closed sound ehamber; of a sonorous body mount- -edtheren; a striker for vbratng said sonoi-ous body; an aetuating deVicefor said striker; and means for adjusting said sonorous body and strikerrelative to the actuating deviee, whereby the stroke of the striker maybe varied, said means including a threaded shaft and eoperating sleeve,whereby 'the parts may be held in adjusted positions. t

' 8. In an audiometer, the combination, with a easing providing asubstantially closed sound ehamber; of a sonorous body mounted therein;astriker for vibrating said sonorous body; an` 'actuating device forsaid striker; means for adjusting said sonorous body and strikerrelative to the actuating device, and thereby vary the stroke of thestriker, said means including a threaded shaft and coperating sleeve,whereby the parts may be held in adjusted positions; and a scale forindicating said various adjustments.

9. In an acoumeter the combination with a casing providing asubstantially closed sound chamber, of a sonorous body mounted therein,means extending through the wall of said chamber and adapted to beactuated from without to intermittently strike said sonorous body andproduce sound V-ibrations v within said chamber, means to adjust theoperative relation of said sonorous body and striker, meanseommunicating. with said sound chamber and constituting a passageway forthe discharge of said sound vibratons therefrom, and a plurality ofsound way. v

10. In an ac'oumeter the combination with a casng providing the soundchamber,'of a sonorous body mounted therein, means eX- tending throughthe wall of said chamber discharge ports in the wall of saidpassagemames adjustment; means constitutin'g a passageway for thedischarge of sound vibrations from said sound chamber, and' a pluralityof sound discharge 'ports in the wall of said passageway.

In testimony whe'eof, I 'have hereunto signed my name at Philadelphia,Pennsyl- Vana, this twenty-seventh day of April,

' JOSEPH M. MCCALLIE.

witnesses: v

JAMES flrBELL, -E. L; FmmToN;

